The Playmobil Advent Calendar Dinosaur Expedition (£14.99). You should buy this. There that was a nice and easy review wasn't it?

Seriously though, I got one of these for my six year old son last year. This was one of the ones that our PlayPennies mums reviewed - the Playmobil Dragon's Land Advent calendar. We also reviewed the Playmobile Unicorn in Fairy World Advent calendar.

My son loved it, and he still has the cardboard scenery that came with it. The scenery and the toys have been well played with. He was so proud he told everyone in the school playground that his Advent calendar didn't have chocolate it had TOYS! Which made me feel like a bit of an uber-mum.

This year he is getting the Playmobil Advent Calendar Dinosaur Expedition. Now it isn't the 1st of December yet, so he hasn't actually used it as an Advent calendar. We have got out the scenery though, and that's all at the ready. As before, the set was easy to assemble, and although the cardboard looks thin, it is as sturdy as last year's.

I have opened the box, to check out all the toys. This is something I'd do anyway, to avoid any surprises (like a toy being broken, or something that needs to be put together first). Also it means you can move around some of the toys if you want your wee one to open a favourite earlier on!

Then reseal the box. You don't actually get 24 toys, but a toy 'set'. Some of the dates contain, for example, an accessory for one of the figures. Or the other part of a toy - the 22nd of December has a dinosaur egg nest, but you don't get the eggs for it until the 23rd of December (actually I swapped those around).

I also got a Playmobil Santa Claus with Snowman (£5.99). I thought this was particularly good value as you get a Santa, a snowman, and a toy sack with little toys. The football has already disappeared, but the rest of the set is part of our annual Christmas scene that we put up each year. Sorry, we're heathens so it isn't strictly a manger scene (and I don't think there were any snowmen in the bible).

Overall verdict for the advent calendar is 7 out of 10. It would be more like 9 out of 10 if it wasn't that a couple of the 'gifts' are rather measly. Playmobil Santa gets 10/10, just for the fun factor alone!

Tesco Direct are continuing their clearance with this Playmobil Noah’s Ark for £13.47 instead of £19.97. It’s £20 at Boots and £20.35 on offer at Amazon.

• Take along Noah’s Ark and all the animals too

The Playmobil Ark is a lovely, chunky toy, apparently, and great for little hands to grab on to. Not too little as Playmobil recommend it to over 18 month olds, but still, enough that they won’t choke on the parts.

The Ark comes with two characters, Noah and his wife – her name was Naamah, if you’re interested. They man the ship while the animals board, and the animals that come along in the Playmobil version of the journey are two giraffes, two elephants, two zebras, two lions and two massively out of proportion doves (so Africa’s biggies are safe from extinction, at least!)

These are great bath toys, or normal toys and make for great solo play or together play – and hopefully with two of each, there’ll be less arguing over who plays with what.

The roof of the Ark lifts to contain all the animals and makes for great storage.

Thanks to missgem at HUKD

If you have children aged under 8 then your attention will have been drawn to the little foil packets of Playmobil figures usually displayed near the counter in stores. I figure that these have been put out as pocket money toys, as they're usually priced at around £1.99. Online the cheapest I have found them is £1.99 including delivery at Howleys Toys. Or you can get a 12 pack of each set from Amazon for £23.98 plus delivery. However, you don't get all 12 figures - just 12 foil packs so you could still get doubles or even triples.

My son gets £2 pocket money a week. He can spend that on whatever he wants, or save it. The choice is his. He does have a saving chart up as there's a Playmobil dinosaur set he has wanted. This has been thwarted for the last six weeks by a need to have an ice cream when we go to the park, however.

He has spent his pocket money on these sorts of things before, but we've only seen the Lego figures. We have a series of these lined up on the mantle piece in the lounge. They're a really great little toy to get actually. I like the way that Lego is easy to put together, but stays together fairly well. It teaches them how to read instructions, and how you can build something up even though it might not look at all like the end result to start with.

As he has the Playmobil Dragon Castle set, when Playmobil asked if we'd like to review their Series 1 figures - 5203 for boys and 5204 for girls - I thought it would be a great opportunity to really see how they compare to the Lego figures.

Use this Toys R Us promotional code to get 20% off top brands and selected product lines. This is part of their Christmas in August promotion, which started today and runs this weekend only. The code works on sale items.

Click here to use your Toys R Us promotional code

• Discount: 20%
• Applies to: selected top brands and product lines
• Promotional code: 9908080139997
• Expires: 14th August 2011

To use this code  you’ll need to go through to checkout. You’ll have to either log in or register on the site. Then when you get to the Check Out page, enter it in the Coupon Details box and hit apply. You don’t need to enter any other details to see if the code works.

The brands you can use this code on are Toy Story, Star Wars, Barbie, Peppa Pig, Fisher Price, Leapfrog, Sylvanian Families and Playmobil. It can also be used on two products lines: bikes and scooters.

I tested it on a Magna 10" Pearl Balance Bike, which was in the sale for £24.99. Half the original price of £49.99. The code took another £4.99 off this. As delivery is £4.95 (or free if you spend more than £50) the total came to £29.94.

Thanks to crazyblondechick at HUKD!

Amazon have a couple of Playmobil Advent Calendars on offer at £11.99 – a £5.00 saving – instead of £16.99. (Mail Order Express currently has the same offer,[thanks SlayerKat at HUKD] but doesn’t include postage!)

• Get ready for Christmas with the Christmas in the Forest Calendar
• Get ready for Christmas with the Police Advent Calendar

While I’m loathed to even think of Christmas, with summer still hiding in the shadows, it’s never to early to save some pennies, is it?  Advent Calendars are a great part of Christmas and a great way to get everyone in the mood, but do we need the added sugar? Not really – which is why I love this idea! Toys that build into a collection? Fabulous!

So, the Playmobil Advent Calendars available on this offer are the ‘Police’ and ‘Christmas In The Forest’  Calendars.

Each Playmobil Advent Calendar has 24 boxes to count down to Christmas and as each box is opened it creates a scene. The Police Advent calendar includes a robber on a push bike, a policeman on a motorbike, a policeman with a police dog and plenty of accessories.

While that’s all fine and well, I adore the Christmas in the Forest set. As one Amazon commenter writes, “The beginning of December begins with a quiet wood that over the first four days of December accumulates a few trees, birds, and scenic items. Then animals arrive, one by one each day - sometimes bringing food along with them. First come the deer, a buck, a fawn, and a doe, later mama and baby raccoons, boar, foxes, badgers, and mice. A few fir trees are thrown in on a couple of the days, and the final three days are devoted to: 22. Santa's 'sleigh' (Santa pulls this himself) 23. A whole bunch of food for the animals - presumably that which Santa is delivering on his sleigh, and finally on the 24th, Santa Claus himself.”

I love that and think it sounds magical – even if it is way too early in the year.

Right - you're going to have to be quick with this one; the sets with 50% off that are still in stock are flying of the virtual shelves FAST.

• Click HERE to go over the ELC

So the Playmobil sets that are still in stock with 50% off are:

• Playmobil Pyramid - now £7.50
• Playmobil Front End Loader (think JCB) - now £12.49
• Playmobil Excavator - now £17.50

There are LOTS more Playmobil sets that haven't had 50% taken off their price, BUT I have a code that will whip 20% off those prices for you at the checkout; hurrah!

The code is 6C5E - I've tested it, it works AND it works on the Playmobil sets and toys with the 50% already taken off the RRP, making them even cheaper than the prices I quoted earlier.

The Playmobil Hospital is a hefty piece of Playmobil kit and originally costs £129.99, using the 20% code brings the price down to £102.99 - this is the sort of major present that can be bought and given from everyone in the family for a birthday or CHRISTMAS!

There, I said it loud and proud - it makes sense to plan ahead for big things when there are decent discounts to be had.

DON'T FORGET to add the discount code at the checkout - 6C5E.

Thanks to sazzlebob at HUKD

There’s a sale on Playmobil at Amazon right now – and with Amazon, right now normally means right now!

• Have some savings on Playmobil from Amazon

Some of the Playmobil savings are pretty big, for example the  Animal Nursery which is £23.99 instead of £42.99 and includes 2 stables, 3 figures and numerous animals and accessories.  Not all are fantastic savings, like the Open Air Pool with Slide which is only 19% off, but it’s a pretty fab set anyway, with six figurines, a pool with a (slide, shower and scales and such funky accessories as flip flops, a towel, toys, and so on.  It also includes a wading pool for toddlers, a lounge chair and an umbrella - not bad for £30.70.

Probably one of the biggest savings is the Suburban House which was £149.99 and is now £88.66 -41% off and has all sorts of features.  It has a working door bell, two downstairs rooms  , a small pato garden and space for a barbeque, table and chairs, all of which are included. Upstairs the are two more rooms (the contents of which can all be bought separately, of course!

The balcony has a pull out sun shade and there are opening doors and windows all round.  And best of all, it comes with a family of 4; 2 adults and 2 children plus a pet dog.

And there are plenty more options to choose from, so have a look around!

The Playmobil Ladder unit is £30.00 at Boots right now, £20.00 less than the £50.00 RRP

• Click over to Boots to fight the fires

Fighting fires, rescuing trapped Playmobil figures, responding to traffic accidents, getting cats out of trees - all in a days work for the Playmobil Ladder Unit.

Rush to an urgent call out with the emergency lights flashing and prepare to save the day. The Playmobil Ladder Unit features an extendible, pivotal ladder which can be used to rescue Playmobil characters in danger. The Playmobil Ladder Unit comes with a fire engine with extendible ladder, emergency lights and deployable stability feet.

Also included are a large selection of accessories to help you rescue those in need including 2 fire officers, a chainsaw, back brace, fire hose and much more.

This is also part of a 3 for 2 offer at Boots, so you could have three fire trucks for £60.00 or mix and match with other items.

Collect 120 points on your Boots card. Delivery is £2.90 and items can collected for free in store.

Become a true hero with the Playmobil Ladder Unit.

Thanks to rosiewoo from HUKD

How does £7.50 sound for a bucket of rescue-themed Meccano containing 190 pieces?

• Click here to go and rescue a bucket of your own from Debenhams

Apparently if you enter the code SHD1 at checkout you should qualify for free delivery, too.

Now I have to admit that there's some controversy surrounding Meccano. It seems you fall into one of three categories when it comes to kids' construction kits. Playmobile, Lego or Meccano; you have to choose which one you're loyal to, apparently. Don't ask me the rules of engagement on this; it's as meaningless to me as the off-side rule, and since my kid has only ever played with Playmobil or Lego I can't really give you a verdict on Meccano. But I'll say this, at that price I'm buying a bucket for the birthday boy and maybe he'll give us his verdict in a few weeks. I do know that Lego is the best boys' toy ever invented and if this stuff is half as good, we'll be a happy little household. It keeps my two entertained for hours but it's something I can join in with too when they need some help to build the more complex vehicles. And I love it; there's something very therapeutic about building stuff with little kids, and it's really rewarding when they treasure the creation and go off into imaginary rescue missions with them!

This set contains 190 Meccano parts in a handy and portable storage bucket. The set can build up to 18 different models and 4 play figures are included.

It's best suited to kids aged 5-8.

Thanks to adnywedge on HUKD!